5 Ways to Ensure You’re Speaking the Same Language

When we first meet with new clients, we always ask what they are envisioning for their new home or space. And oftentimes, their vision sounds like this:

• “We’re thinking contemporary, but not mod-contemporary.”
• “I love everything so-and-so has done. Except maybe that.”
•  “I know what I don’t want.”
• “You know what I mean?”

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. It’s what we do daily here at Debowsky Design Group; we translate what you want in a home, predict what you’ll need, use our expertise and experience to bring your vision to fruition, and we communicate all the way until it’s built.

If you’re building or renovating a home, we want to be sure you and your build team are speaking the same language. Here are five critical tips to help you get it right:

1. Do your research. Online resources like Pinterest and Houzz make it easy to tightly define your preferred style even before meeting with your architect and design team. That same deep-dive applies to the build team you ultimately choose; assess their experience, client reviews, and communication style.
2. Be concise. Clear communication is key when sharing your vision with your build team. If they don’t understand what you want, you may not get it. Pictures help.
3. Ask questions. Ask a lot of questions. Your goal is to understand the services your chosen firm offers and make sure they match your expectations, from budget adherence to timeline expectations. This is also another opportunity to learn more about the way they return your calls and answer your questions. If they’re not in a hurry to respond before they have your business, consider that a red flag.
4. Don’t procrastinate. It’s a mistake to assume you’ll have time to shop while your home is being built. There are a lot of items you’ll need to choose, from doorknobs and windows to countertops and light fixtures. To really keep a handle on your project cost, we help our clients select everything ahead of construction. This allows your build team to factor in prices and gives us ample lead time for purchases.
5. Rely on your build team. You did ample research before choosing them, right? Trust your decision and their ideas. (Especially if they’re our ideas. We’ve got good ones for your new home.)

If you’ve chosen to work with us at Debowsky Design Group, you can rest easy. We’ve got decades of experience building homes in South Florida, so our list of references and partners is extensive and excellent.

More importantly, you can be sure we share your vision because we work hard to achieve project fluency. So, when you ask, “You know what I mean?”, we do. We always do.